Offices are changing: While individual work space is shrinking, partition walls are starting to come down.

"Over the last couple of years, the work station footprint has definitely been getting smaller," said Frank Gutwein, president of Widmer Interiors, 8415 N. Allen Road in Peoria.

The cubicle, developed in 1968 by furniture designer Herman Miller, Widmer's main supplier, remains alive and well, but there are plenty of new developments on the office front, he said.

Although individual work areas that used to average 8 feet by 10 feet may be 8 feet by 8 feet or even 6 feet by 6 feet now, many companies look for ways to facilitate collaboration in the workplace, said Gutwein.

"We're seeing panel heights being lowered and more natural light coming into the office. Companies are looking to harvest daylight," he said.

One of the reasons companies have reduced work space is because of downsizing that has hit business in recent years, said Micheal Demanes, project and design coordinator for Demanes Interiors, 1916 N. Knoxville Ave., a firm that specializes in contemporary design.

"If companies can get by with less, they don't have to lease as much space," he said.

At the Henricksen office furniture firm at 401 Water St., account executive Barb Mishler said one of the new office developments was "benching," where a number of people work on one surface.

"Benching is opening up the cubicle and allows for more teamwork," she said. The marketing department at Millikin University in Decatur is one place where the benching approach has been used, said Mishler.

The concept of people working together is getting plenty of attention in the layout of the modern office, said Donna Pritchard, marketing administrator for Lincoln Office in East Peoria.

"Collaboration is something we're seeing more and more of. Technology drives a lot of this. You don't need as much space for computers anymore," she said.

"Companies are making use of vertical space. Work stations aren't as large as they used to be with more meeting spaces that aren't necessarily separate rooms," said Pritchard.

Gutwein said flexibility is built into many office arrangments.

"They call this a peninsula desk," he said of the L-shaped wooden desk in his Widmer office with a rounded corner to accommodate meetings. "This (desk) can serve as a conference table or a work station."

Henricksen's Steve Mefford, another salesman for the Chicago-based firm, said that while change is in the air, "cubicle world is still the norm."

While a company might completely overhaul an office area, more often it's a case of improvements being added to what's already there, he said.

The office furniture industry has been hard-hit by the economic downturn as many firms chose to delay even small improvements, said Gutwein. "Sales in our industry dropped by 40 percent in 2008 and 2009. When money is tight, it's easy to hold up on office upgrades - even when they're budgeted for," he said.

Page 2 of 2 - "Over the last six months, business has picked up a lot. Companies are starting to do things again. We see slow improvement ahead," said Gutwein, noting that Widmer's, already serving Peoria, Champaign and Normal, opened a fourth location in Rockford last year.

Office changes depend on the specific industry, said Blake Zalcberg, chief operating officer for OFM, an office and school furniture manufacturer and distributor in Holly Springs, N.C.

"A lot of cubicles and walls are being broken down where more collaborative work is being done. You still need walls and privacy for individual salespeople or telemarketers but walls are definitely shrinking in a lot of different environments," he said.

Offices will vary depending on the philosophy of the business owners, said Zalcberg. "Offices at older companies often still look old while newer companies try to think outside the box," he said.

The latest ideas for interior design will be on display in June in Chicago at the NeoCon World Trade Show, a show that Henricksen's Mishler wouldn't miss. "I love seeing all the new furniture," she said.